Saturday Shawarma: Personal Challenge, Day 41 (10.27.12)

With a busy Saturday filled with activity, my personal challenge to try something new was once again focused on food. My morning and early afternoon plans revolved around finishing my Zombie prom queen costume for my friends’ annual Halloween bash.

I had just finished my costume when my friend TJ arrived. We had made plans to hang out and have dinner before I had to pick up my friend Ida and head off to the Halloween party. TJ is the kind of guy who is always up for trying a new, local restaurant. After searching Yelp, we decided on the House of Basturma in Pasadena.

The House of Basturma is located on Washington Blvd, just west of Altadena Drive. This is an Armenian restaurant named a type of Mediterranean meat (Basturma). The guy working there was very helpful, answering all of our questions about the menu items and offering advice on what to order.

The Chicken Shawarma Plate to go

I read in the Yelp reviews that the House of Basturma has the best Shawarma. So we both decided we would order a Shawarma plate to see if the reviews were accurate. TJ ordered the beef Shawarma while I went with the Chicken Shawarma.

Though I haven’t had enough Shawarma to say whether or not this was the best but I know enough to say it was really good. I managed to devour my food before TJ, which says a lot. Usually when we eat out, I never finish my food and TJ gets to enjoy my leftovers–which is why we usually order different menu items. Even TJ was surprised that I left nothing behind. The pitas, the Chicken Shawarma, the hummus and the salad, all gone.

So if you are in Altadena or the north-east portion of Pasadena and you are craving Mediterranean/Armenian Food, House of Basturma is the place to go.